Summer Sisters Part 2

And then there was Von, the most gorgeous guy Vix had ever seen. He was maybe sixteen, with a long sun-streaked ponytail, muscles in his arms, and a pack of Marlboros tucked into the sleeve of his T-shirt. His lips were full and so soft looking Caitlin said she could suck on them all night. Until then Vix had never thought of sucking on anyone's lips.

Von worked at the Flying Horses, which was sup posed to be the oldest carousel in the country, one of those national treasures people on the Vineyard were always raving about. He collected tickets and fed the rings back into the machine as the carousel spun round and round. Vix thought Von should be declared the National Treasure. Every time Lamb headed for Oak Bluffs they'd beg to come along. He'd give them a couple of dollars and while he ran errands they'd ride until they were so dizzy they could hardly stand.

Von called them Double Trouble. He groaned when he saw them coming, pretending they were a real pain. Caitlin punched him in the arm when he acted that way. She loved to tease him, pulling his ponytail, jumping from horse to horse, daring him to stop her. She broke all the rules but he never kicked her off the carousel. Vix knew he never would have noticed her if it hadn't been for Caitlin. But she didn't mind. She was proud to be Caitlin's friend.

One night the National Treasure introduced them to his cousin, Bru. Bru was taller than Von with sinewy arms. He didn't say much. Vix could tell he considered them children, not worth his trouble.

Another night Lamb took them to the movies to see Annie Hall, and after, when Caitlin begged for just one ride on the Flying Horses, Lamb said, "Okay, but just one." He and Sharkey headed up Circuit Avenue to get a slice at Papa John's.

But Von wasn't on the carousel that night. Instead, Caitlin swore she saw him with some girl in the dark alley next to the Flying Horses, with his hands inside her shirt and her hand on hisa"Vix couldn't say it. She couldn't say d.i.c.k or p.e.c.k.e.r or even p.e.n.i.sa"not when it came to Von. So Caitlin gave it a new name. The Package. She said this girl's hand was wrapped around Von's Package.

That night they came up with a new game. Vixen and Ca.s.sandra Meet Von. When they played they took turns pretending to be Von, lying on top of one another, rubbing The Power against the other's Power until the electrical current buzzed through their bodies.

They vowed never to tell anyone about Vixen and Ca.s.sandra. Caitlin said they weren't necessarily lesbos because they always pretended to be doing it with a boy. On the other hand, they might be.

Lamb HE SWEARS, on the night she was born, when they put her in his arms, she looked directly into his eyes and smiled. He touched the tiny rosebud mouth and fell head over heels in love. His daughter. His little girl. He never imagined he'd lose her. And he hasn't, he keeps telling himself. She's never missed a summer, never asks to spend the holidays with anyone but him.

He and Phoebe were fools, thinking it would be easy. Sure, they'd divorced without rancor. He can't even remember if it was Phoebe's idea or his. All that open marriage business. Someone was bound to get hurt. But separating the kids just to be fair? A girl for you, a boy for me a How was he supposed to know Phoebe would take Caitlin to live halfway across the country? Regrets? Sure, he has regrets.

He watches her on the Flying Horses. He can't believe she won't always be this young, this innocent.

4.

IT'S HARD TO REMAIN in awe of someone you're as tight with as Vix was with Caitlin that summer, someone with dirty feet, feet that smelled like the muck on the bottom of the pond, someone who spread her legs and rubbed her Power against yours.

"G.o.d, I love that feeling!" Caitlin said. "You're turning out to be a lot different than I thought."

"What'd you think?"

Caitlin picked up two small, red flannel squares and began to toss them from hand to hand. Maybe she was going to ignore Vix's question. She did that when someone asked her something she didn't want to answer. She'd just act as if she hadn't heard a word.

But after a while, Caitlin said, "I knew you were smart but quiet." She caught the squares and checked out the next exercise in Juggling for the Complete Klutz. "I knew you wouldn't ask a million questions and get in the way." She began again, this time with three squares. "And I liked the way you smiled a and that purple T-shirt you always wore." She didn't take her eyes off those red squares, not for a second.

Those were her reasons? But what had Vix expected? After all, she hadn't known Caitlin any better than Caitlin had known her.

Caitlin tossed all three squares into the air at once, then dove onto Vix's bed, knocking her flat. "I just wasn't sure you'd know how to have fun!"

Vix took that as a compliment. She knew Caitlin liked her. The kind of like that had nothing to do with their secret games. Sometimes, when they were in town, Vix would notice people staring and she'd remember Caitlin was beautiful, but for the most part it didn't matter anymore. It didn't get in the way.

One night at dinner Lamb asked if she was having a good time. A good time? Vix couldn't believe what a time she was having. It was the best time of her life! Sometimes she wished summer would never end. Sometimes she wished she'd never have to go home.

She looked down at her plate filled with a heaping portion of bluefish, new potatoes, and green beans, and answered Lamb's question in a small, quiet voice. "Yes, thank you, I'm having a good time." Caitlin kicked her under the table and Vix was scared she might laugh.

Then Lamb said, "Do you miss your family?"

Suddenly Vix was filled with guilt because she didn't miss her family. She hardly ever thought about them. Well, maybe Nathan, but that was it. She wrote to him every week, sending a small Tupperware container of sand, a plastic jar filled with water from Tashmoo, a piece of blue beach gla.s.s Caitlin had found and given to her for him. "It looks like cobalt, doesn't it?" she'd asked Vix.

"Yeah, really a" Vix had answered, whatever cobalt was.

They'd laid it on a bed of cotton in a jewelry box, then wrapped the box in bubble wrap, after Caitlin finished popping the bubbles with her bare feet.

"You can call whenever you want," Lamb continued. "Don't worry about the charges."

"Lamb a" Caitlin said, "let it go."

"It's just that Vix is so quiet," Lamb told her, as if she weren't sitting at the same table, as if Sharkey weren't, too. Sharkey, who never said a word at dinner but who made a strange, humming sound as he ate his cereal, as if he had a motor somewhere inside his body.

Vix was curious about why Sharkey didn't bring a friend for the summer, too. When she asked, using up her question of the week, Caitlin said, "I don't think he has any friends."

"That's so sad."

"Pathetic," Caitlin agreed.

"I guess Vix is the shy, quiet type," Lamb said, still on her case. "Like Sharkey."

"She's not anything like Sharkey," Caitlin told him.

Suddenly, Sharkey spoke. "How would you know?" he asked Caitlin. "How would any of you know?"

Sharkey IT'S ALL SO EASY for them, yakety-yakking all day and half the night! Do they think he doesn't hear them, doesn't know they think he's weird? Jesus! His life is none of their G.o.dd.a.m.n business. He doesn't need friends. There's a difference between lonely and alone. Not that they would know. Alien creatures, if you want his opinion. Beam me up, Scottie a ANYTHING SHE WANTED to see or do on the island was hers for the asking. Your wish is my command, Lamb told her, like in some fairy tale. So she said, I'd like to see the real ocean. And abracadabra, the next day they were off to the ocean, making a quick stop in Menemsha, an old fishing village, with almost as many boats in the harbor as tourists snapping pictures. Sharkey had opted to skip their outing and stay at home, probably to drive Lamb's old truck up and down the dirt driveway, or bury himself under the hood of the Volvo, or slide around on his back on the body-size skateboard he'd constructed to get underneath the cars.

She and Caitlin followed Lamb way out onto the dock until they came to a rundown wooden sailboat, Island Girl, where Lamb called, "Trisha a hey, Trish a"

A deeply tanned woman with a tangle of brown curls, wearing cutoffs and a work shirt, came out from inside the boat, shading her eyes from the sun. She jumped up onto the dock and threw her arms around Lamb, then Caitlin.

"Meet my friend Vix," Caitlin said.

Trisha gave her a high five.

"We're on our way out to Gay Head," Lamb said. "Want to join us?"

Vix had just found out that gay and head had meanings she hadn't known about before, and hearing Lamb say those words aloud made her feel funny.

"Be with you in two seconds," Trisha said. "Just let me grab my stuff." She jumped down onto her boat and ducked inside the cabin. Lamb followed.

"They're just friends," Caitlin said, while she and Vix waited. "From the old days a when Lamb lived up here. They might still have s.e.x though. I'm almost sure they do. I wouldn't mind if they got married. She's a flake but she loves us."

They picked up lunch along the waya"clam dogs and lobster rolls. Vix had never heard of either and ordered french fries with ketchup. By the time they got going again Vix was more interested in Trisha than the ocean, and wondered if she and Lamb had been doing those things to one another, those things she and Caitlin had read about, while they were inside the cabin of the boat. She didn't think so because they weren't gone that long, not that she had any idea how long it would take.

The ocean was exactly as she'd imagined it, exactly the way she'd seen it in a million movies. The only surprise was the smell, salty and fresh, and the roar as the waves crashed against the sh.o.r.e. They followed Lamb and Trisha to a place sheltered by a high clay cliff, but even so the wind whipped their hair, and when they tried to talk, sand blew into their mouths.

As soon as they dropped their bags on the beach Trisha started taking off her clothes. First she unb.u.t.toned and slipped off her shirt, revealing humongous b.r.e.a.s.t.s, with nipples the size of vanilla wafers. Vix had never seen anything like them. She tried to look away but she couldn't. Despite the wind, she felt her face grow hot.

Trisha could tell from the expression on her face something wasn't right. "Oh, honey a" she said, "is this going to be embarra.s.sing for you a because I don't have to undress." She had to shout to make herself heard. She looked over at Lamb for guidance.

"I think it would be better a" Lamb began.

"Gotcha," Trisha said, pulling on her shirt.

"It's a nude beach," Caitlin told Vix, "but you don't have to take off your clothes. I never do."

Only then did Vix shade her eyes and look around. It was true! Most of the people on the beach were totally naked. Lamb stepped out of his jeans and for a second Vix held her breath because no way did she want to see his Package, but it was okay, he was wearing a tiny Speedo, the kind Mark Spitz wore at the Olympics when he won all those medals, when she was just in second grade. She could not believe the way they were all acting, as if a beach full of nudists was no big deal.

"So, Vix a" Lamb said, "what do you think?"

"Think?"

"Of the ocean."

"Oh, the ocean." She tried to think of something interesting to say but the ocean wasn't number one on her mind. When she didn't respond, Lamb laughed. "Pretty overwhelming, huh, kiddo?" Then he and Trisha grabbed hands and headed for the waves.

She imagined telling her mother that Lamb had taken her to a nude beach. Indecent, her mother would say. Lewd and indecent and I want you on the next boat out of there! Her parents did not walk around without their clothes. Her mother was, after all, a Lapsed Catholic.

Trisha SHE'D f.u.c.kED UP TODAY, big time, taking her clothes off that way in front of the kid. No common sense. On the other hand, it was a nude beach. Why'd he take them to a nude beach if she wasn't supposed to take off her clothes? What kind of sense did that make?

No matter how hard she tries, she never gets it right with him. Fifteen years ago he'd chosen Phoebe instead of her. The money thing, she's always thought. The family thing. She could have told him back then it would never work. Phoebe was used to getting whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it. Oh sure, she'd played at their way of life, but she hadn't really believed it would create a better world. Not that she believed it anymore either. But back then a She'd arrived on island at eighteen, fresh out of Bridgeport, and she'd never left. Not like Phoebe, who'd dropped in for a summer, hooked Lamb, and took him away.

After he'd split with Phoebe he'd come back and she'd cared for his little boy as if he were her own. Lambsey-Divey, she'd called him. Now they called him Sharkey and she was lucky if she saw him a couple of times every summer.

She's waited all these years for Lamb to get it through his head that they belong together, that she loves his kids as much as she loves him. But he has a new woman in his life, a woman he's serious about. As if what they've had for all these years isn't serious. She cried when he told her, cried and threatened to slit her wrists, but he'd held her, promised he'd always be her friend a always be there for her.

And he'd set her up in business, hadn't he? Encouraged her to go out on her own with Trisha's Melt-in-Your-Mouth m.u.f.fins, fresh-baked daily. Light. Fluffy. Not like those lead b.a.l.l.s they sell at the Dog. All the best restaurants and shops in town are after her m.u.f.fins now.

She's in her prime he told her. She'll find someone else, someone to make her happy, someone to share her island life. So she hasn't slit her wrists. She's too busy baking. But, oh, she misses their lovemaking. How long since they've been together? Four months, two weeks, three days. Ever since he met the new woman.

Fifteen years ago she'd thought they'd be together forever. Fifteen years ago she'd woven ribbons through her hair.

5.

VIX HAD NEVER KNOWN anyone like Lamb. All he asked of her was that she learn the lyrics to the Beatles songs, which wasn't exactly a hardship. So during the second week in August, when he told them he had to go to Boston for the day, she didn't mind. He promised to be back in time for dinner. "You okay with that, kiddo?" he asked her.

"Sure," Vix said, "no problem."

But at six P.M. he called from Boston. Logan was fogged in. A real b.u.mmer. He wouldn't be able to get back until morning. Vix couldn't believe he would leave them alone overnight in Psycho House.

"I'm not afraid of the dark," Caitlin said. "I don't believe in ghosts."

Neither did Vix, exactly.

After an early supper, Sharkey offered to take them for a drive in the truck. At fourteen he had no license, not even a learner's permit, but he was a careful drivera"two hands on the wheel at all times, always under the speed limit. He drove them up island and down, but he wouldn't stop, not even for ice cream. Something about the battery. By the time they got back it was after nine and there were flashes of lightning in the distance. Twenty minutes later all the lights in the house went out. Caitlin tried the phone. "Dead," she said, striking a match and lighting a candle.

A violent storm followed. Sweetie trembled and hid beneath Caitlin's bed. Sharkey dragged a sleeping bag into their room and camped out on the floor. Vix huddled next to Caitlin, in Caitlin's bed, covering her eyes as each bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Trees went down in the woods and the rain turned to hail, pelting the house like a machine gun. "It's just a storm," Caitlin said. "I don't know why you're both acting like Sweetie."

In the morning Lamb called to say he'd be home by noon and he was bringing a friend.

"A friend?" Caitlin said.

"Probably Abby," Sharkey told her, grabbing a handful of Cheerios from the box, dribbling them into his mouth.

"Abby?" Caitlin said. "Who's Abby?"

"Some woman," Sharkey told her. "Woman?" Caitlin said. "You mean woman as in girlfriend?"

Sharkey shrugged.

"Lamb has a girlfriend and he didn't tell me?" Caitlin asked.

He shrugged again.

"I'm his daughter. I should be told these things."

"He's not a monk, you know," Sharkey told her, "any more than Phoebe's a nun."

"But he's never brought anyone here! The Vineyard's always been just for us."

They arrived in time for luncha"Lamb, the woman named Abby and her son, Daniel Baum, who was Sharkey's age. Abby greeted Sharkey as if they'd met before but it was clear the two boys hadn't and neither one was thrilled. Daniel was two heads taller than Sharkey, preppy, with Top-Siders and an alligator shirt. He acted bored.

Abby was almost as tall as Lamb, rail thin, pale, with baby-fine brown hair hanging to her shoulders and bangs drifting toward her eyes. She wore jeans, a terrific T-shirt, and wavy-soled shoes that made her seem even taller. Abby smiled at Caitlin, told her how happy she was to meet her, how much she'd heard about her. Daniel yawned, really loud, without covering his mouth. Caitlin looked like she was going to throw up.

They came into the house through the kitchen door and were hit by last night's messa"the macaroni and cheese pot on the floor, licked clean by Sweetie, their gooey plates still on the table, together with boxes of breakfast cereals, banana skins, and a half-eaten piece of toast smeared with grape jelly. Abby's face registered surprise, then disgust. Vix spied the milk carton on the counter and tried sneaking it into the fridge, but Abby didn't miss that either.

Sweetie, who'd been resting under the table, began to bark and when Daniel kneeled down to pet her she growled at him. "Jesus a what kind of dog is this anyway?" Daniel asked, jumping out of the way.

"A lab," Lamb said. "She's usually very friendly." He opened the door and shooed Sweetie outside.

"Well a" Abby said, trying to be positive. "This house has a lot of a possibilities."

They went on an island tour, all six of them crammed into the Volvo, the two boys in the back seat, one staring out the left window, one staring out the right, and Caitlin and Vix on the floor in the way-back with Sweetie. Lamb opened the rear window so they wouldn't suffocate. In the front, Abby and Lamb were just la-ti-da, as if this were even better than the Brady Bunch. While they were gone the cleaning service would be trying to whip the house into shape. They'd told Lamb it would take all day, maybe two days. Lamb promised a bonus if they finished in one.

They didn't visit Trisha's boat this time, or go to the nude beach. Instead of clam dogs and french fries, lunch was a dreary affair at a harborside restaurant, with Daniel sulking and Sharkey's inner motor running on high. Caitlin moved her food around on her plate but didn't eat a bite.

Vix tried her best, pretending to be fascinated by The Story of Abby and Lamb, and how they'd met and how they'd instantly been attracted and blah blah blah a who cared? "He couldn't believe I was a student at The B-School," Abby said, laughing.